Swivel door counter



Jan. 29, 1946. E. RAMSAY' 2,393,811

SWIVEL DOOR COUNTER File d Oct. 2, 1944 34 14 aa a2."

INVENTORY Erskine Rams y I ATfZ/V Patented Jan. 29, 1946 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to office furniture, more particularly to a combined cabinet or the like, and a counter pivotally mounted thereon and has for its object the provision of an article of the character designated which shall be disposed in aisle forming relation with the wall and entrance to a room to provide privacy therein and which shallbe pivotally movable when necessary to allow for easy ingress and egress.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cabinet which shall be adapted to be mounted in front of the opening to a room and which shall have pivotally mounted thereon, midway its ends, a counter which can be swung about its pivot to permit passage around the cabinet and which shall include means for holding the counter in its normal position on the cabinet.

My invention contemplates an article which is especially adapted for use in offices of professional men handling confidential matters and who deal with a varied clientele. The private desks of such professional men and their employees often have papers in view which carry confidential information pertaining to their clients business, and where the public has access to such an office, confidential matters are sometimes inadvertently betrayed. By means of my invention the entrance to such an office is barred so that easy entrance is impeded and there is provided a counter over which business may be conducted. If it be necessary to invite a person to enter the room, the counter may be readily swung about its pivot and easy access provided.

An article embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view showing my improved article of manufacture disposed in aisle forming relation with respect to the entrance and walls of a room;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view showing the pivotal mounting for the counter; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view showing a yieldable spring latch for holding the counter in its normal position.

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of my invention, I show in Fig. 1 a fragment of a room having side walls i and H, a front wall l2 and an entrance door l3. Disposed in front of the door 13 is a cabinet M which may be of any conventional design and which may conveniently be adapted to hold books, drawings, or other things which may be required on short notice in dealing with clientele. Pivotally mounted at IS on top of the cabinet [4 is a counter I! which overhangs the cabinet at the sides and in front so as to impede the further entrance into the room without invitation. When desired, the counter I! may be swung about its pivot Hi to the position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 to provide for easy ingress and egress.

It is intended that the counter l'l shall be adapted for the transaction of business and must be adapted for supporting some weight. It accordingly should be sturdily mounted on the cabinet and to that end, I show in Fig. 3 a metal plate l8 which is secured on the under side of the counter I1 with screws I9 and which carries a downwardly extending pivot bolt 2|. A plate Similar to plate i8 is shown at 22, mounted on top of the cabinet 14, and serves as a bearing plate for the plate iii. A nut 23 on the lower end of the bolt 2| secures the counter in place.

At one end of the cabinet I4 I show a bracket 24, secured to the cabinet, and having connected to its ends springs 26 and 21 which are secured at their outer ends at 28 and 29 respectively, to the sides of the counter I1. With the arrangement shown, it will be seen that if the counter ll be swung away from the full line position shown in Fig. 1, the spring 26 or 21 as the case may be, will return the counter to its normal position.

At the end of the cabinet l4, opposite the springs 26 and 21, I show a yieldable spring latch for holding the counter I! in its full line position, as shown in Fig. 1, which latch comprises a round head detent 31, carried by the counter H, which is adapted to engage in an aperture 32, in a leaf spring 33, mounted on the cabinet 14 at 34. When suflicient pressure is exerted on the counter H, the detent 3| will force the spring 33 downwardly so as to move out of the depression 32. When the counter I! is returned to its normal position, the detent 3| again engages in the depression 32 and holds the counter.

From the foregoin it will be apparent that I have devised an improved combination cabinet and counter which affords the necessary privacy to an office, over which business may be transacted, and by swinging the counter about its pivot, easy ingress and egress may be had with respect to the office in which the article is disposed.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those, skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire,

ingress and egress from the room, and spring means to return the counter to its normal position.

2. In combination with the walls and entrance to a room, a cabinet disposed in front of the entrance in closely spaced relation thereto, a counter pivoted midway its ends on top of said cabinet and disposed close enough to the walls normally to block entrance into the room and 20 adapted to be swung on its pivot toallow for ingress and egress from the room, spring means to return the counter to its normal position, and a yieldable spring latch for holding the counter in normal position.

3. In combination with the walls and entrance to a room, an elongated cabinet disposed in front of the entrance in closely spaced'relation to the walls of the room, an elongated counter pivotally mounted midway its ends on top of the cabinet to swing in a horizontal path to form apassageway past its ends and overhanging the cabinet at both ends and at the front close enough to the wall to impede the entrance of persons into the room, yieldable latch means for normally holding the counter in a predetermined position, and spring means for returning the counter to said position when the latch is released and the counter is swung away from said position.

ERSKINE RAMSAY. 

